Save

Share

Share

Tweet

Lobster Ink is a global training and content developer in the hospitality, food and beverage sector. It is a subsidiary of Ecolab, a Fortune500 company and the two brands share premises in Cape Town. They were looking to possibly relocate and refresh their workspace and worked with the JLL Market Advisory team to do a stay-versus-go analysis of their real estate needs. The result was relocating to a space more aligned to their corporate culture, brand and improved staff work and environment experience in re-gentrified Woodstock, Cape Town. The neighborhood is an eclectic mix of retail, residential and commercial offices and has become a concentrated hub for developers and freelance content producers, in the city which has been ranked as one of the top four destinations in the world for digital nomad work. Tétris Design and Build were commissioned to do the workspace strategy, design and fit-out of the new space.

The brief from the client was to provide a space that was inspirational and functional for their teams. Developers and digital analysts need individual zones, dedicated spaces to work and focus or take online calls, while content creators need group activity spaces to workshop and brainstorm ideas. Break-out spaces, and leisure spaces had to include comfort along with high-end aesthetics, incorporate a sense of playfulness and creativity and provide opportunities for rewarding casual interactions.

The design of the space used the visually predominant industrial core of the existing space including exposed HVAC systems and painted it a soft charcoal as a backdrop for the activity and energy of the workspace. The Ecolab turquoise brand colour and the bright magenta of the Lobster Ink brand were rendered out as a range of softer toned-down hues and applied as spots of focal colour in focus rooms and meeting rooms with purpose made sound baffles and meeting booths in the muted brand colours. The steel frame of the mezzanine layer was painted white to work with the large, glazed ground floor meeting rooms creating a flow and transparent continuity from open plan desking into large meeting and workshop rooms.

Smaller meeting rooms on the mezzanine level have soft charcoal grey curtains for privacy and improved acoustic performance with expansive views of Table Mountain and the city. Detailed shop-fitted shelving provides a homely context and mirrors the eclectic nature of the neighborhood the office is located in. To celebrate this alignment with the specific location chosen, the Tétris design team sourced the accessories for the space from local second-hand bric-a-brac stores. Wallpaper designs and detailing referenced the visual texture of the rail stockyards and harbour on one side and Table Mountain on the other side of this sixth-floor office. These design details provide a refreshing and playful authenticity to the location of the office and inserts a quirky visual aesthetic that is right fitted for the nature of the business of both the brands that occupy the space.

The kitchen and pause areas are important gathering and connection spaces for hybrid work teams seeking community when they do come into the office. As such the workspace layout positions the kitchen with informal eating, meeting, and social working spaces as a more convivial bookend to quieter open plan desking and meeting rooms placed on the opposite end of the floor plate. With a homely comfortable aesthetic created by wooden shelving and cupboards packed with beverages and snacks a large professional coffee machine, bright yellow finishes, brass handles, and a window framing a view of the city, the kitchen becomes the central gathering point of the two companies. It leads onto a long 16-seater cafe table with booths, harvest tables and bar stools that take advantage of the offices elevated height overlooking the disused railyard and the harbour beyond.

Feature furniture placement creates further differentiated workspaces. Quiet-work pods face the expansive views while occasional chairs and laptop stands provide comfortable breakaway spaces from the open-plan desking. The accent on well-being and the Cape Town digital working lifestyle is continued with access to fully equipped showers in the bathrooms for staff who may wish to cycle into work or exercise during the day. Planters are filled with plants known for their capacity for removing toxins from the air and producing oxygen overnight and all workstations have access to ample natural day light.

Design: Tetris Design & Build
Photography: Sean Gibson